After the Olympics ended, we jetted out to the Greek Island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese chain. I had always heard how beautiful it was from my Greek-American friends who’s family came from there. The island was always a bit too far for me in previous Greece vacations, being just off the coast of Turkey. This time though, we had time to make the trip.

We had a quaint, old place within the medieval city walls. The Old City is the oldest inhabited medieval city in all of Europe and parts of it really take you back to those days. Unfortunately, a large part of the town caters to cruise ship groups that stop there seemingly daily. There are entire streets with trashy stores on top of each other selling crap – cheap t-shirts, hideous Collosus of Rhodes statues, fast food, etc. All in all though, it was a nice, sun-filled four days. As long as we stayed away from the areas of drunken foreigners like Faliraki, we were safe. There are pockets on the island like these where the only Greeks you see are the ones running the shops. It’s like being in England or Germany, except with good weather. Even the cafes have British and German stuff on the menus…like they can’t do without their beans and toast or full English breakfasts for a few days. Pretty ridiculous, I think. Why would you want to “go away” on vacation and want everything like it was at home?